Looking Glass
by Bunzai
Summary: Arya is living an ordinary life until an incident in the woods challenges her reality. Three Part ModernAU-ish.
1. Chapter 1

The alarm clock buzzes and Arya groans, flinging an arm out from under her blankets to feel for the snooze button. "Five more minutes" she mumbles, reaching for the noisy contraption but only succeeding in knocking the clock off the desk.

"You said that half an hour ago." Sansa says, pushing her way into Arya's room and unplugging the clock with a quick tug. "Get up or Robb will leave without you."

To prove she's serious she pulls the covers off the sleeping Stark only to reveal her little sister curled up in crumpled school clothes. Arya doesn't have to open her eyes to picture Sansa's horrified face.

"Tell me you didn't sleep in that?"

Arya bit her lip. "...I didn't sleep in that."

It takes her another twenty minutes to extract herself from the bed and clean up in the bathroom, by the time she's down stairs Robb, Bran and Sansa are long gone.

"Not again…" her mother sighs. It's the seventh time her youngest daughter has missed her ride to school. Robb had agreed to keep driving his siblings even after he'd graduated and started college. He liked to leave early though and it was a bit too early for Arya who resigned herself to catching the bus.

She grins sheepishly at her mother and snatches the cereal pack from Rickon, pouring half the contents into a bowl. The younger Stark protests but Arya ignores him, pushing her hand deep into the box, crushing the cornflakes as she looks for the prize that was promised on the packet.

"Cool I won the toy" she wiggles a misshaped piece of blue plastic in front of Rickon whose lip starts to tremble.

"Muuuuuum!" he wails.

"Arya the bus is on the corner, you best be off if you're going to catch it, and Rickon, hunny we'll get you another toy." Arya could see the strain in her mum's features and relents.

"Here have the rest," she passes Rickon a peace-offering of soggy cornflakes and blue plastic and makes for the door.

The bus ride is fairly uneventful. She takes a seat at the front and chats with the bus driver who's been driving this route since her father was a kid. He was a bit odd and crass but that's why she liked him.

"Your father down south with those Baratheon's again?" he asks. Ned Stark worked as a business consultant for his friend Robert Baratheon. He'd often fly south for weeks at a time to attend various meetings and events.

"Yep but he swears this time is the last time." The same way he swore last time would be the last time and the time before that. Her father could never say no to his friend.

"I'll give you a tip boy. Us northerners should stay in the north. You tell your father old Yoren said that."

"I'm not a boy," she growled.

"Then get a new haircut."

It feels like Yoren drives slowly on purpose just so he can annoy her some more and she gets to school ten minutes late. She slips into her first class by the back door so she doesn't have to put up with Miss Mordane's chastising. The old lady used to teach Robb and Sansa and made the mistake of expecting Arya to be like them, smart and diligent and on time, needless to say they didn't seem to get on much.

By the time lunch rolls around Arya's bored and decides to take a walk around the school. She sees Bran climbing with some friends on the play equipment. She's sure the boy would install a set of monkey bars in their back garden if he could. Sansa's talking amongst a bunch of pretty girls and their pointing to a group of boys hanging out near the lockers. Arya rolls her eyes at their giggling and keeps walking.

She doesn't really hang out with anyone at her school. Every time she tried to make a friend they'd end up moving and switching schools so eventually she just gave up. Sometimes during lunch she'd sit and watch the groundskeeper hack at weeds around the oval; Harwin never minded when she'd spend her lunchtime following him around. Often she'd tag along with him and re-home the lizards and spiders safely away from his weed trimmer.

She decides to seek our Harwin again and heads to the groundskeepers shed hidden on the other side of the yard. It sits near a large vacant block of land that's thick with trees and bush. Some days she liked to play in the woods, pretending she was lost in miles of wilderness, no one but herself to count on. It was thirty minutes a day when she was free to just be herself, no teachers, no parents and no expectations to live up to.

When she reaches the shed though Harwin's not there. She thinks of exploring the woods behind it but this time they feel different. They look grey and dull as opposed to their usual vibrant green color. There's a cold wind blowing and not a sound to be heard from within the trees. Arya feels her skin prickle and chest tighten. Something tells her to leave, run if she can, that today she shouldn't be here.

"Creepy…" she mutters and turns on her heel. She spends the rest of lunch walking laps around the yard but staying away from the woods.

When the bell rings she isn't as slow to get to her math class. She takes a seat by the window and dozes lightly with her head against the pane, resting in the afternoon sun. Every now and then her eyes drift open and her gaze lingers on those woods.

She's caught in a strange tug-of-war, something in those woods is calling to her and yet something else just as strong is pushing her away. Arya feels it even when schools finished, when she's at home eating dinner with her family and even whilst she lays awake in bed, feeling her skin tingle at the memory.

She stays away from the woods for the next few days, even going so far as to have lunch with Sansa. It seems to work and the force that draws her to the woods becomes weaker.

"Arya Stark." Her math teacher calls on her and Arya sleepily lifts her head from her hands. The teacher is looking at her, eyebrow raised and expecting an answer….

"Seven?" It clearly wasn't the right answer and the teacher huffs and shakes her head in dismay. Arya rolls her eyes, it's not like she'd good at math and the teacher makes it so boring.

After a brief lecture about focus, in which she also learns the answer wasn't actually a number, Arya yawns and props her head on her hand, looking out the window again.

She's rewarded by glimpsing a blur of grey fur across the yard. Startled, she turns around curious to see if anyone else has spotted the dog. No one is looking outside though, all intently staring at the board. The dog is sitting just beyond the playground and she can swear its smiling at her. Arya's always liked dogs. She bites her lip and raises her hand.

"Can I go the toilet?" she asks. Her teacher looks less than pleased but nods.

Once outside she crouches low and moves slowly, offering her hand out. The dog, which is fairly large and with a shaggy brown coat, tilts its head curiously. "Here girl." She calls but the dog just eyes her and trots off.

"Hey," she growls and follows as the canine leads her around the school grounds.

So intent on trying to capture the dog she doesn't notice they're almost at the woods until the dog finally sits on the very edge of the tree line. "Hey girl are you lost?" She crouches down and looks from the dog to the woods. It's strange, the woods cause a chill down her spine but the dog makes her feel safe and warm.

"Here," she digs half a sandwich out of her pocket and holds it out for the dog, shaking it gently like she did the plastic toy in front of Rickon. The dog regards her with keen yellow eyes and whines but doesn't fall for it, instead trotting further into the woods.

Arya pauses, as much as she wants to play with the dog she doesn't want to go into the woods. But the dog runs back and gives a yelp as if she wants her to chase and Arya sighs. As she steps past the tree line her hands start to shake. "Fear cuts deeper than swords," she whispers though where she heard the phrase she can't remember.

She has to work to keep up with the dog that moves fluidly around rocks and trees. It's hard but she knows that she can't lose sight of the dog, it's not safe is she loses sight of the dog. They're deep into the woods now and Arya suddenly wishes she were back in her math class. The air gets colder the farther she goes and it smells of snow and pine needles.

She can't see anything except oak trees and one strange tree she's never encountered before. Its thick trunk is white as bone and its branches are covered in spiky red leaves. A face in the tree stares back at her, made from red sap it looks like the face is screaming.

There's an aura that comes off the tree but if its good or bad she can't say. The dog scratches at the earth beneath it and looks back at Arya.

"I don't…" she whispers to the dog who now looks more like a wolf. As if she's under a spell her arm stretches out and she's moving towards the tree. The wolf howls and the sound rings in Arya's ears. Her hands are closing in on the trunk and she takes a breath to steel herself.

When her fingers touch the smooth bark her eyes close and she's overcome with grief and rage and pain. She sees her father losing his head, her mother with cold eyes and a large red scar across her neck, Robb with arrows in his body, Sansa crying, Bran crippled, Rickon screaming and a man who looks like her with brown hair and grey eyes buried under ice. She sees and feels it all, a lifetimes worth of memories and grief hit her and she crumples to her knees.

The last thing she sees before she passes out is the yellow eyes of the wolf.


	2. Chapter 2

When she wakes she's in the nurse's office, she sees the worried face of Catelyn Stark above her. Her mother's skin is smooth as porcelain and there's no scar across her throat. Arya sighs in relief. It was just a bad dream, a very vivid bad dream.

"Arya child, what happened?" her mother's voice is full of concern and Arya feels guilty, though for what she's not sure.

"I saw a dog," she says because it's the truth. "I must have fallen on a root or something."

There's a feeling in her gut that tells her not to speak of the dream. When she closes her eyes she can still see her family bathed in blood and feel the hate and grief that radiates from them.

"You're coming home." Her mother says and Arya doesn't argue.

When they get back she discovers her father has caught the first plane back.

"You had me worried young lady" he says when she steps out of the car.

"Dad…" she runs to him and flings her arms around his waist. It feels good to have him home, to know it was all just a bad dream. He smiles, his head still very much attached to his body.

"Here, it's cold, let's get you inside," he leads her into the house and they sit and talk whilst they wait for the others to come home.

They have a family dinner that evening; Ned, Catelyn, Robb, Sansa, Bran, Rickon and herself. She gets a strange feeling as she stares at the empty chair setting but pushes it aside. They're all there and no one's dead, she reminds herself.

That night though she dreams of a crowded square, her father kneeling in front of them all and a great sword swinging. She wakes up in a cold sweat and fresh tears on her cheeks. It's four in the morning and she doesn't want to go back to sleep so she ends up dressed and ready for school by six.

"Isn't this a surprise?" Robb laughs entering the kitchen to find her munching on toast and watching the morning news.

"Miracles happen." She grins and offers him a slice.

"You okay?" he asks and Arya smiles. She really does love her family, which is why the dream seemed to hurt so much.

"I'm fine." She waives it off and he musses her hair. When Sansa and Bran are ready, Robb even picks up her bag and takes it to the car for her.

School actually helps to keep her mind off what happened in the woods. Miss Mordane is shocked, first that she's actually there on time and second when she raises her hand to answer a question. At lunchtime she doesn't go near the woods. Bran seeks her out instead and they have lunch together. Even Sansa joins them for a little while.

Yesterday is all but forgotten until gym. She's playing hockey when it happens. Arya's been defending well and her team is up 1-0. She's sitting as the last line of defense when her teammates over commit and the ball comes racing back to goal. She sets herself in front of the goalkeeper whose just a scared little girl and the players all rush to her in a wave, holding their sticks up in the air as they run. She blinks and suddenly they're not holding hockey sticks, their holding swords and hammers and axes and dressed in chainmail and charging towards her.

"…" She's frozen as the other girls dance around her and put the ball in the back of the net. After that she excuses herself for the remainder of the class and sits in the sick bay.

It continues like that for another week. At night she fears to go to sleep. Every time she closes her eyes she's back in a place of ice and fire and death. Like the hockey incident the dreams start to invade her mind when she's awake. When Bran is on the play equipment she sees him falling from a tower, when she helps her mum in the kitchen her knife becomes a sword as sharp as a needle and soaked in blood.

It begins to take its toll on her and strangely Sansa is the one to call her on it.

"What's wrong, you've been acting weird since they found you in the woods. Did something happen…" Sansa's voice is soft and gentle and for a moment Arya feels bad for the secrets she's been keeping.

"Nothings wrong, I'm just tired." She lies again though. Well, half of it's a lie.

"You're tired but you don't sleep. The Arya I know wouldn't get out of bed even if it was on fire." She can't fool her sister. Part of her wants to tell Sansa but then she remembers the dream, the way Sansa is screaming whilst dressed in strange clothes and how their father kneels.

"Arya, did someone…do something to you in the woods?" Sansa grabs her little sister's hand and her blue eyes narrow.

"What no!" she protests. The last thing she needs is Sansa suggesting something like that to her mum. "I saw a dog and I chased it. I just feel stupid for falling over is all." Sansa gives her the same look her mother did but lets her go.

It doesn't help when her father has to leave to attend another council with Mr Baratheon. She's lending a hand to load his luggage in the car. When he says his goodbyes he pulls her aside and his big hands rest on her weary shoulders.

"You look after yourself young lady." He's worried and she'd like to lie to him too and tell him she'll be fine but she can't. Instead she reaches into a bag and hands him a large grey coat.

"You should wear a jacket," she tells him "winter is coming."

When he leaves the dreams remain just as bad. She hasn't slept in days now and almost drowns in her corn flakes at breakfast. She's so tired she can't pay attention in school. Math is never the most exciting subject and Arya has to try her hardest to keep her eyes from yielding. The teacher is droning on about some imaginary number and her voice is just…so…dull…

"Owww!" Arya yells as her head hits the desk with a thump.

"Detention!" her teacher yells back. Arya cringes but at least the pain in her temple should keep her awake for a while.

She sits in detention with two boys, the round one they call Hot Pie and the tall one she knows as the Bull. The Bull smells of smoke and ash and she asks why he's there but he says he doesn't know. "You must have done something?" But he shrugs and leans back in his chair.

Hot Pie gets to leave early and as their watcher leads him out, for a moment it's just her and the Bull.

"Bad dreams?" he asks and she whips her head up so fast his eyes widen. "Thought so."

"What would you know about bad dreams?" she whispers. He holds her gaze and is about to speak when their teacher reappears.

The rest of the time is spent in silence. When their hour is up she leads him out the door and when she's almost at her mother's car she turns back to look at him. The Bull is staring back at her, a strange look on his face like he's thinking hard. His real name enters her mind but she pushes it back because she shouldn't know it, so she turns and steps into the front seat.

Instead of going home her mum drives her straight to a doctor. Arya's not really surprised, she's refused to go in the past but detention was probably the last straw. She doesn't know how to explain these dreams but she knows it's something no doctor could fix.

"It'll be okay…" she tells her mum but she can see the worry in her eyes as she's guided into the waiting area. It's a different kind of doctor, she realizes. No one sitting in the waiting area looks sick or in pain, save for the large man whose face is half burned. He gives her a look, huffs and then walks off when it's his turn to be seen.

Arya ends up in a room with black and white ink blots all over the walls.

"Would you like a drink, child." The doctor asks.

"No," Arya growls, annoyed at being called a child. The doctor brings out some cards and asks her what the shapes look like.

"A wolf, a castle, a man with no face…" she answers each one and the doctor nods as if it all means something.

"I'm going to say some words and I want you to respond with the first thought that comes to mind…" It's Arya's turn to nod.

"Mother"

"Dead"

"Father"

"Dead"

"Brother"

"Dead"

"Arya"

"…" He writes some notes on the paper and looks at her curiously.

"What do you think of when you see me?" he asks. Arya studies him for long while but isn't sure, so she shrugs. "A kindly old man."


	3. Chapter 3

Her mum doesn't look happy when she talks with the doctor. There's a lot of gesturing and fierce nodding. At the end of it, all Arya learns is she doesn't have to go to school for a week.

She wouldn't describe the week at home as a blessing though. Two days in it starts to snow and school is cancelled anyway. That's when she begins to get sick. She sits under the blankets staring at the snow falling out the window, feeling like a prisoner. She can't escape her dreams and now she can't even escape the house.

She's drawing patterns in the condensation on the glass when movement outside captures her attention.

"The wolf!" she gasps. Its standing outside her window, yellow eyes shining bright against the snow.

"What wolf?" Rickon questions from the doorway.

"Over there, it's the same one I saw in the woods." She points to it, barely visible amid the snow. The wolf sees her and starts to howl and Arya thinks its going to wake up the neighborhood.

"I don't see a wolf." Rickon grumbles as he moves to the window.

"It's there, by the road. She's howling can't you hear her?" Rickon looks outside then back at her like she's grown three heads. He takes in a big breath and is about to call for their mum when Arya claps her hand over his mouth.

"No" she says. Her head is throbbing and she's struggling to breathe but there's something in the wolf's song that's helping her. Rickon is scared though and his eyes start to tear up and she knows it's no use. He starts to cry and she runs.

Her legs are weak as she stumbles down the stairs. She can hear Rickon yelling and her mother rushing to him. Arya pushes her way to the door and out into the snow. The cold bites at her skin but she's focused on making it to the wolf. As if to help, the wolf moves towards her.

The snow soaks her clothes and she can hear her mother yelling for Robb to go get her. With a cry she reaches for the wolf and her fingers graze soft fur. In the same way the tree took over her the wolf does, only it's not as painful this time and she feels warm. She wants to stay there in the snow with the wolf but Robb picks her up and carries her back inside.

"Did you see her?" Arya asks, but Robb shakes his head.

"You're sick, you're just seeing things." He looks like her father when he's worried and she puts a cold hand to his cheek.

"Nymeria," she chokes back a sob. "her name is Nymeria."

.

Her trip into the snow doesn't help her sickness, she has a fever and her whole body burns like a thick flame. Sansa sits with her and cools her forehead with a towel.

"I miss you…" Arya says, her hands clutching at her sisters sleeve.

"I'm right here." Sansa soothes. But she doesn't understand.

"Not anymore…" She knows now they weren't just dreams. They're memories that whilst still broken are as raw and painful as when they were made. When she sees her sister all she feels is loss. "I miss you…" She tries to get up but her body fails and her sister gently lays her back down. Sansa stays with her and sings softly till she falls asleep.

.

When she wakes again Bran is there standing beside her bed.

"Dad's trying to get here but his plane's been delayed." Bran looks different, his eyes look old and there's lines on his face she's sure weren't there before.

"Help me," she begs Bran. He looks at her but not the same way Robb or Sansa or her mum did.  
"Sometimes I dream that I'm broken, but it's not a dream…I need you sister, I need you to go back." He squeezes her hand and leaves, and Arya doesn't know whether to laugh or cry. But moments later he comes back with a big winter coat.

"It's cold out, you'll need to keep warm" he says and helps her from the bed. She leans on him as they make their way downstairs. They're at the backdoor when he wraps the coat around her and zips it up.

She notices how tall he's grown. In her dreams he's always small and broken but here he's strong, almost a man now.

"Arya!" her mum calls and Bran frowns.

"Go." He whispers and pushes open the door. Arya hugs him tightly, part of her knowing she may never get another chance.

.

She stumbles through the snow again, still sick and weak and her head spinning. She trips and falls but pushes herself back up, knowing she has to keep moving. She's barely made it two streets when she thinks she's going to die there in the snow. She scans the endless white looking for Nymeria but she's nowhere to be found. Instead there's two bright lights growing closer.

A bus that has no right to travel in this snow pulls up next to her. When she gets herself on board she expects to see Yoren but finds a strange man with red and white hair.

"A girl must say a name" He tells her. He leaves the door open, as if to throw her off if she doesn't answer right.

"I don't know the street name." She's so exhausted all she wants to do is collapse on the dirty seats but he persists.

"A man waits for a name." He watches her and she searches her mind for an answer. It comes to her as a whisper over her lips.

"Winterfell" she says and the red haired man smiles.

.

When the bus arrives outside the school it's then she sees Nymeria waiting for her. Gold eyes a beacon in the darkness that settles around them.

Arya walks to her and holds her close, grasping the shaggy coat between her fingers and breathing in her scent. They walk through the woods together, Arya holding onto Nymeria for strength until their back in front of the old weirwood.

Nymeria gives a yelp but Arya finds herself stopped in front of the tree. Her heart feels torn. She thinks of her family and the way they're all together here. She thinks of Bran who stands so tall and of her father, his gentle hands and worried eyes as he holds her. If she stayed in this place maybe they could be a family again without the swords and war and blood…

Nymeria whines to get her attention. The wolf is so covered in snow all she can see is her yellow eyes. Like a_ Ghost_, Arya thinks. She smiles a bittersweet smile at Nymeria and the wolf nips at her hand.

"I am Arya of House Stark" she tells the tree and places her hand right into the mouth of the screaming face.

.

.

.

* * *

When she wakes again she's back in the House of Black and White. There's a strange taste in her mouth and a wetness on her lips. She spies a stone cup beside her and knows it's the same cup that sits at the pool in the center of the temple.

"The many faced God has judged you Arya Stark of Winterfell." The kindly old man stands before her and lowers an item wrapped in dark cloth into her lap, the thin steel of the blade escaping from the folds of the fabric. His face gives nothing away but she thinks she hears a smile in his voice.

"Valar Morghulis" she says unafraid.

"Valar Dohaeris, Arya Stark. The many faced god will have you, but not today."


End file.
